Speaking of California, I used to have a girlfriend from southern California.  When she was a kid her father  made everyone in the family wear seat belts, because it was a safety issue and the right thing to do.  When the state passed a law requiring everyone to wear seat belts, he stopped wearing his - wasn't going to let the state tell him what to do.  It was the dumbest thing I ever saw.  It proved to me I will never be able to understand human behavior.

Crook and politician are synonyms in the US. Both parties, don't play innocent you liberals here. How's your record with politicians in jail, look to Michigan and IL for the most former governors.

It's certainly true that neither party has a monopoly on corruption and there have been plenty of corrupt Democrats, but when it comes to the presidency there really is no comparison.  Over the past nine presidencies covering 50 years, there were 87 people in the administrations of Republicans Nixon, Reagan and Bush II who received criminal convictions.  Ford and Bush I had 1 each bringing the total to 89.  People working in the four Democratic administrations over the same period had 1 criminal conviction of a Clinton crony.  So for corruption at the highest level over the past 50 years the score is Republicans at 89 convictions versus Democrats with 1.  Really no comparison.  I expect Trump will set a new record once the investigations are done.
  (Full disclosure - the graph came from the liberal source Mother Jones using data from Wikipedia).

Not one word has anything to do with Microstock.

What's Microstock?  Who has time for that?  My job flipping burgers at McDonalds gives me more time for forum posting.

BTW, for those who want to do something, the survivors of the most recent Florida shooting are planning a march on DC for March 24 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43105701).  These students are really taking a stand and their goal is to break the back of the NRA.  If we can make NRA dollars toxic to politicians then there is hope of taking back the country.  Baby steps.  When 17-year-old high school students show more wisdom and intelligence than our "leaders" then it clearly is a time for a change of leadership!

I will try to go to the rally depending on schedule - the 11-hour drive each way makes it difficult with work.  If not there then Indianapolis - a large rally now with a buildup to the elections could see a change in November.

Guns for all IS the American system

This actually is not true, at least not according to the constitution.  This idea of "second amendment rights" has now been perverted so thoroughly that even Zero Talent states the idea that people can own firearms at home as a fact.

The actual text of the second amendment is, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".  The Founding Fathers were concerned about protecting the state from foreign powers, especially after the British had a policy of capturing the magazines of the colonies in 1774 and 1775.  The second amendment, as you can clearly tell by reading what is written, only authorizes the right to bear arms in the context of a well regulated militia.  We can know this with absolute certainty by the key phrase "A well regulated militia".  Not much interpretation required for that.  Random yahoos having guns at home is not well regulated and not a militia (which can only be authorized by Congress), so absolutely, 100% is NOT authorized by the second amendment. 

You could debate about whether "the security of a free state" would include personal weapons, but we can discount that by the first clause about militias and also by understanding the historical context.  In the 1770s the colonies did not have their own armies.  If there were a need for defense, every able-bodied (male, slave-holding in the south) citizen would be mustered into a militia and issued weapons from a communal store.  Most people did not own firearms because they were 1) very expensive and 2) required loading with cartridges of gunpowder and primed with black powder.  Keeping lots of gunpowder lying around in wooden houses that were lighted and heated with open flames is not a great idea.  Instead, gunpowder and weapons were stored in community magazines that were present in most large cities. To prevent the citizens from rebelling, the British removed gunpowder from magazines in Massachusetts in 1774 and Virginia in 1775.  This was fresh on the minds of the framers of the constitution and is likely why the second amendment was deemed so important.

The US was absolutely NOT set up as a gun state!  The right to bear arms was only in the context of a well organized militia for the security of the state, which we can know with absolute certainty because it was written in clear, plain English.  The modern equivalent of a 1780s militia is the National Guard, and nobody has ever talked about disarming them.  That amendment was written before the age of professional, standing militaries and really should be removed since we no longer use militias for defense.

For over 150 years the Supreme Court interpreted the second amendment as it was written.  It is only during the past 50 years that the NRA, through consistent messaging and buying off of congresspeople, has perverted the public perception of the second amendment so much that even liberals talk about "second amendment rights" as if it means individuals can keep firearms at home.  Yet, this clearly is not what the constitution says, and especially so when you consider the historical context in which it was written.  The second amendment right to bear arms in modern society should only rest with the various state national guard units.  The second amendment only applies to arms in the context of a militia; it is silent about firearms owned by individuals.  This means that individuals owning firearms should be decided and regulated separately by the states.

It is a travesty that one organization has managed to twist the constitution to serve the ends of a single industry.  It is long past time for the power of the NRA to end and the people to read the constitution and interpret it as it was written and intended.

... I say punish the illegal owners. ... Use a gun in a crime, you go to prison. Someone uses your gun, stolen or other, the owner goes to jail or is at least risks going to prison for not securing a dangerous weapon. Make the law 21 and do background checks for all purchases. How does a mentally ill young person get a cache of weapons and ammo? Prosecute the people that sell weapons or ammo to people not allowed to own. Prosecute the source along with the criminal.

License the gun by serial number to a licensed owner, no others.

Those are all good suggestions.  I would add the obvious to also ban assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines.  Let hunters have the weapons they need, citizens keep guns at home if they feel the need for protection, but nobody needs a huge arsenal at home.  If you want to fire an assault weapon, join the military.

Sales on Alamy for me seem to be a pretty random event and I have no ability to predict what might or might not sell

Also the Alamy license might be closer to an EL at some places, so take that into consideration when comparing sales.

That is about my experience there as well.  For example, I had two RF sales there last week, both of which were images that were rejected by SS, although they are on some of the other micros.  I liked both of those images so I'm glad somebody bought them - they have probably been on there 4 or 5 years, maybe longer, with very little action.  Both were used for 1/4-page layouts in magazines, so like ELs on the micros.  The total sales price was around $51 and both were distributor sales so I ended up with 30% or around $15, $7.50 each.  This month I've had ELS on DT for a little over $5, at 123rf for $13 and at SS for less than $15, so all in a similar range.  RM sales at Alamy have been at similar prices except those for me have usually been straight through Alamy rather than a distributor so 50% commission.  If you're planning to limit your "best" images to Alamy keep in mind that sales there are sporadic and slow - nice when they come but it won't be often like the micros.  I don't do many backgrounds so have no idea how they will sell at Alamy, but my experience is that anything can sell there just like the micros.  Good luck!

good news for Contributors

The four most dreaded words in microstock!

Last time 123 cut commissions it was going to somehow lead to massive new sales that would see our proceeds increase dramatically - and we all know how that went.  Sort of like the Republican tax cuts in the US that are supposed to magically stimulate the economy so much that tax proceeds will increase rather than decrease - been tried many times before with the same result as microstock commission cuts.  Can't wait to see what sort of scam 123 will roll out in March.  The only real question is: do we stay with them to see what happens or bail out now?

I didn't look too hard, but didn't see anything about what they charge or how much they pay.  No interest in pursuing until they provide that information, although if they are marketing through Offset and Robert Harding then presumably both will be good.

Never had a refund on SS.  On DT, DP, 123 and of course iStock, yes, but so far never on SS.

I just mean anyone who does not need the income from micro to survive.

Yes, that.  For survival, I hear that McDonalds is still hiring ...

Those are hard to identify from a picture.  The first one looks like ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata), which is not a palm, weirdly enough.  The second of course is a palm but can't tell the genus from the picture.  You could probably look it up in The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms by Riffle, Craft and Zona.  It's a great book if you like palms.  I actually have a copy at home but am not going to spend the time to look it up - you should be able to find it in a library.  Palms with blue leaves are relatively uncommon so it shouldn't take too long to pin it down.

If you are in Minas Gerais then I would go to UFV in Vicosa and find someone who works on ornamentals or plant taxonomy.  I know a couple of professors there who could probably point you in the right direction if you go there often.  Good luck!

I may have heard this in a dream, but I'm sure somebody once said that if an agency has a score of 100, then it means everyone averages $500 a month from them. So for example, iStock is 25 so the average is $125 a month.

Like I say... I may have completely made that up.

I don't think you made that up - if you did, then I had the same dream!  I remember $500 figuring in there somehow and it being a percentage relative to a fixed amount.  Or something.

I think the only way to sum it up is that: higher numbers = good; low numbers = not so good; no numbers at the bottom = variable; and specific numbers = meaningless.